Hip-Hop
The 13 Best Things That Happened in Music This Week (July 3)
This week was full of star-studded events and awards shows, with the “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” concert, BET Awards and Juno Awards all taking place virtually. In other awards show news, we’ve got an update on the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards — more on that later. Take a look at some of the week’s biggest music happenings below. Stars came together for the virtual “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” concert From Jennifer Hudson’s rousing kickoff to Justin Bieber and Quavo’s stripped-down performance, the “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” event on Saturday (June 27) was chock-full of amazing moments. Christine and the Queens, Chloe x Halle, Shakira and more also performed. In case you missed the concert, you can watch all of the must-see performance videos here! The 20...
Tekashi 6ix9ine Premieres New Single “Yaya”: Stream
Tekashi 6ix9ine is back with another new single. “Yaya” is the rapper’s third release since getting out of prison, following “Gooba” and “Trollz”. The latter track, featuring Nicki Minaj, recently went No. 1 on the Billboard 100. Despite the success of “Trollz”, 6ix9ine says “Yaya” is the best one I did [sic] so far.” The track hears him rapping and singing entirely in Spanish, suggesting that it’s the first preview of a Spanish-language album currently in the works. Watch the explicit video below. As mentioned, “Yaya” marks his third comeback single since being released early from prison due to the coronavirus. The rapper had originally been sentenced to 24 months behind bars after pleading guilty to racketeering, firearm possession, and drug trafficking charges. ...
Lil Wayne Drops Revamped ‘Free Weezy Album’ on Project’s 5th Anniversary: Stream it Here
Lil Wayne is celebrating the fifth anniversary of his Free Weezy Album (FWA) by sharing a revamped version of the project on all music streaming platforms. The set was previously only available on TIDAL. Originally released in 2015, the 15-song FWA — Wayne’s 11th studio effort — featured guest appearances by Wiz Khalifa, Young Jeezy, Cory Gunz, Jim “CAPO” Jones, Black Uhuru‘s Junior Reid and singer/songwriter Jake Troth. The re-release of FWA, which dropped Friday (July 3) via Young Money Records/Republic Records, includes 13 of the original tracks, along with the bonus song “We Livin’ Like That.” The new version, however, is missing original tracks “I Feel Good,” “Thinking About You,” “He’s Dead” and “Without You.” To further mark the ...
Kanye West, Ellie Goulding, Pop Smoke and More: What’s Your Favorite New Music Release? Vote!
This week’s new music releases brought fans a variety of new tunes from some of today’s hottest rappers, rock legends, pop songstresses and country stars. Pop Smoke returned with a posthumous album featuring a star-studded track list, Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello brought a politically righteous tune, and Kanye West teamed with Travis Scott for a fiery examination of injustice, and Ty Dolla $ign recruited the best and brightest for his new track. Elsewhere, Ellie Goulding delivered an emotionally intelligent track with the help of Lauv, Chris Young reflected upon the wonder of the commonplace, and Sufjan Stevens prodded at America’s problems in a 12-minute epic. So, with so much to choose from, Billboard wants to know which new music release is your favorit...
6ix9ine Dropping New Song ‘Yaya’ on Friday: ‘This Is the Best One I Did So Far’
6ix9ine‘s steady release of new music continues. The 24-year-old New York rapper took to Instagram on Thursday (July 2) to announce that his new song “Yaya” and its accompanying music video will drop Friday at 11:30 a.m. PT/2:30 p.m. ET. “THIS IS THE BEST ONE I DID SO FAR,” he captioned the announcement. In late June, 6ix9ine scored his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Trollz,” a collaboration with Nicki Minaj. That song followed his comeback single “Gooba” in early May. Earlier in the week, the rainbow-haired rapper teased the new Spanish-language “Yaya” with a brief video of himself lip-synching the track while getting a lap dance from a bikini-clad woman at his home studio. “THIS FRIDAY YAYA WE...
July Album Anniversaries Every Music Fan Should Know About
As we enter July and leave the first half of 2020, we’re more than happy to look forward. Hopefully, that means returning to some level of normalcy (masks on, peeps), continuing to push for racial justice across society, and, of course, new music. As always, though, to know where we’re headed, we’re keeping one eye and both ears to our past. And there are plenty of groundbreaking records celebrating major anniversaries this month. Read on for a rundown of the albums we’ll be revisiting all month long and information on some of the pieces we’ll be featuring in correlation with these must-know anniversaries. Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters (1995) <img data-attachment-id="548547" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2014/11/faces-dave-grohl/foo-fighters-foo-fighters-al...
Vanilla Ice to Play Fourth of July Concert, With 2,500-Person Audience, in Texas
Vanilla Ice’s upcoming concert could prove deadly, and it’s not because he’s playing a dope melody. The “Ice Ice Baby” rapper has announced a Fourth of July concert, with an audience, in the pandemic hotspot of Texas. With a spike in coronavirus cases, Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently ordered the closure of all bars and nightclubs. Restaurant are however allowed to stay open at a 50% capacity, and that’s the legal loophole that’ll allow Vanilla Ice’s concert to move forward as planned. The venue hosting the concert — Emerald Point Bar & Grill in Lake Travis — is considered a restaurant because at least 51% of its sales come from food. As a result, Emerald Point is able to welcome up to 2,500 patrons for its “Independence Day Throwback Beach Party”, which will be headlined by Mr...
DaBaby Is Performing at a 4th of July Concert for a Live Audience
Fresh off his moving performance at the BET Awards, DaBaby is ready to play to a live audience again. According to an Eventbrite listing, the North Carolina rapper is scheduled for a 4th of July concert in Decatur, Georgia that’s well aware of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The event, titled “4th of July Bash”, is hosted by J Hart Productions and is being marketed as part of a “weekend concert series” at Cosmopolitan, the newly renovated venue in Decatur. The event lists DaBaby as its featured performer on July 4th alongside MoneyBagg Yo and Blac Youngsta on July 5th. The “4th of July Bash” is proudly declaring itself “the only concert in the city.” Surprisingly, yes, organizers seem to be aware that COVID-19 has been skyrocketing recently — there’s been 43,644 new cases and 560 new dea...
Disclosure Enlist slowthai and Aminé for New Single “My High”: Stream
Disclosure continue to edge closer to the release of their first new album in five years, ENERGY. Following up on last month’s title track, the electronic duo is now sharing a second single called “My High”. For the Lawrence brothers, who are used to weaving together house-inflected club tracks, this latest offering incorporates a new fabric: hip-hop, courtesy of guest rappers slowthai and Aminé. Disclosure talked about the collaborative process in a statement: “We always wanted to work with rappers, we just didn’t know any and we had no means of contacting them… There aren’t a lot of rappers in Reigate. Writing ‘My High’ with Aminé was a lot a fun, he’s hilarious and may as well be a comedian. He writes so quickly and it’s amazing to watch. He brought so much energy to this already very e...
Here’s Where The Weeknd Is Donating $1 Million Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
The Weeknd’s altruism isn’t slowing down. On Monday (June 29), the XO commander donated a whopping total of $1 million with $500,000 going to MusiCares and the other half to front line hospital workers of the Scarborough Health Network. The Weeknd’s generous gesture is to help those affected by COVID-19. Along with his charitable donation, the After Hours singer brought back his XO face masks and matched every dollar to help raise the money. Earlier this month, The Weeknd shelled out $500,000 to nonprofit organizations committed to racial equality. Split between Black Lives Matter Global Network, Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp and National Bail Out, The Weeknd spoke on the importance of creating change for African ...
Fabolous vs. Jadakiss in ‘Verzuz’ Battle of New York Heavyweights: See Billboard’s Scorecard and Winner For the Showdown
It was Freddy versus Jason once again. Fabolous and Jadakiss served as the latest battle as part of Swizz Beatz and Timbaland‘s Verzuz series, as the New York veteran duo faced off for an Instagram live audience in the hundreds of thousands on Monday night (June 29). With more than four decades in music between the pair of rap titans, fans have had their calendars marked and Timberlands laced since the highly anticipated matchup was announced last week. There’s no bad blood here either, as the prolific MCs remain close friends and also released their underrated Friday on Elm Street joint album back in 2017. Instead of looking at it as more of a heavyweight bout, Fab and Jada see saw as a chance to showcase the depth of their decorated discographies, which range from underg...
Thom Yorke Reveals Second Sonos Radio Mix: Stream
In the past, Thom Yorke has provided the BBC with sleepy bedtime music, as well as more experimental playlists. Lately, the Radiohead frontman has been lending his curatorial skills to Sonos Radio, where he’s in charge of a 24-hour station called “In the Absence Thereof”. Last month, we got a taste of his first Sonos Radio mix, an expansive collection featuring everything from Iggy Pop and James Blake to Duke Ellington and Oneohtrix Point Never. A playlist for his second Sonos Radio mix has now arrived, and it promises a similar wide-ranging selection of material “that fascinates or moves” Yorke. Among the highlights on Yorke’s latest list of “influences and obsessions” are Sonic Youth rocker Kim Gordon, elusive R&B connoisseur Jai Paul, Maryland rappers JPEGMAFIA and Rico Nasty, and e...
